Self-adjusting feed-bag.



v Patented oct. 7, |902.

L. BUTLER &. C. w. SMITH. SELF AnJuSTlNa FEED BAG.

(Application led May 20, 1902.)

.(No Model.)

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UNrrED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

LORENZO CUTLER, OE NEV YORK, AND CLARENCE YV. SMITH, OE BROOKLYN, NEVYORK.

SELF-ADJUSTING FEED-BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 710,670, dated October'7, 1902.

Application led May Z0, 1902.

To @ZZ 107mm/ it 'nz/ty concern/.-

Beit known that we, LORENZO OUTLER, residing at 2871 Seventh avenue, NewYork, county of New York,and CLARENCE W. SMITH, residing at 1223 Pacificstreet, Brooklyn, county of Kings, State ofNew York, both citizens ofthe United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSelf- Adjusting l `eed-Bags,fully described and represented in thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthe same.

The object of the present invention is to furnish a means of holding thebottom of a feed-bag close to the horses muzzle during the consumptionof the oats, so that it may not be necessary for him to jerk the bagupward to reach the oats, as such jerking often results in the spillingof the oats.

Various spring attachments have been already devised for supporting thefeed-bag elastically under the horses nose; but such attachments involvethe addition of various fixtures to the bag or its suspender orsuspending-strap, while the present invention requires merely theconnection of the spiral springs to the strap at suitable points to forma slack loop in the suspender at the side of each spring.

In practice we attach metal ears by means of riveted feet to theopposite edges of the bag and rivet the ends of the suspender over suchfeet, connecting one end of a spiral spring to each of said ears and theopposite end of the spring to a suitable point upon the suspender toform a slack loop ot' the suspender outside of the spring adjacent tothe edge of the bag. The suspender is furnished with the usual bucklefor adjusting it to the horses head, and the springs are adapted toyield when the bag is full of feed and to draw the bag elasticallyupward as it becomes emptied, thus holding the feed constantly close tothe horses mouth.

The term suspender77 is used herein to designate a rope or a leather orcanvas band or any other suitable suspender for supporting the feed-bagupon the horses head.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings,in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a feed-bag Serial No.108,219. (No model.)

provided with our improvement andthe edges of the bag furnished withmetal ears, and Fig. 2 is a section of the suspender shown in Fig. l atits point of attachment to the bag. Fig. 3 is a View of one edge of thebag and its attachments with both ends of the spring attached directlyto the suspending-strap.

A designates the bag, B a dat suspenderstrap, and C the ears attached tothe top edges of the bag at opposite sides by means of the feet D. Theends ot the suspenderare applied over the feet and the rivet extendedthrough the feet, the suspender, and the edge of the bag, as shown inFig. 2. The lower end of each spiral spring E is attached to one of theears O, and the upperend of such spring is attached to the suspender bymeans of an ear e, an eyebolt, or by any other suitable means. A loop ofthe suspender is bowed outwardly from the upper end of the spring to thelower end of the same to permit the extension of the springs whenapplying the bag to the horses muzzle. Y

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 the suspender is shown formed of arope, and the end of the rope is tied in the ear C, and the ends ofthespiral spring are secured to two points upon the rope by means of clipse2, such points being adjacent to the bag, but separated sufciently toforma slack loop in the strap, as already described. In this View thespring is shown partially extended and the loop partially straightened,as would occur when the bag is loaded and first applied to the horseshead. lt is com mon to attach ears to the edges of a feed-bag and tie arope therein for supporting the bag, and it will therefore be observedthat with our invention no additional mechanical features are requiredbeyond what are shown in such bag, except the spiral springs and somesimple means of attaching the same at opposite ends to the strap.

t will be observed that the suspender, whether made of rope, leather, orcanvas, is not cut to apply the spring, and its integrity is notimpaired hy the application of the invention, and the bag does not,therefore, lose its support upon the horses head in case the springbecomes broken. The invention does not, therefore, require any specialconstruc- IOO tion of the bag or the strap or the attachments of thestrap to the bag; but the application of the spiral spring by suitableconnections to two points upon the suspending strap or cord sufces toapply our improvement and support the bag elastioally if a loop of suchstrap or cord be formed at the side when applying the spring, as shownin the drawings.

We are aware that several inventions have been made for applying aspring to support a feed-bag; but in al1 prior inventions a specialconstruction of the bag or the strap was necessary, Which is not thecasein our invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimedherein is-V The combination, with the opposite edges of a feed-bag, ofthe metal ears C having each our hands in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

LORENZO OUTLER. CLARENCE W. SMITH.

Witnesses:

L. LEE,

WALTER H. TALMAGE.

